Proteomic Analysis of Dormant Seeds with Dry Ripening Process in Maize Inbred Lines

Abstract

Because the special natural climate of overabundant rain and poor sunshine in the southwest, pre-harvest sprouting has seriously affected the quality and yield of maize, looking for a good material with resistance to pre-harvest sprouting is the urgent need for improvement of existing maize strains. The results of this study indicated that proteome of 08-641, 008, and 127 seeds significantly changed during post-ripening. Nine differentially expressed proteins related to dormancy in the seeds of maize inbred line 08-641 with 15 days afterripening process were analysed through 2-DE, including one newly induced expressed protein, two missing expressed proteins, five up-regulated expressed proteins, and one down-regulated expressed protein. Among the nine proteins, five proteins were identified by mass spectrometry, including three globulin-1 S allele precursor of storage proteins, one 2-isopropylmalate synthase B and one translationally-controlled tumor protein involved in regulating protein structure and cell function. The changes of proteins during dry ripening process of seeds indicated that the seeds undergo a series of physiological and biochemical activities befor they can germinate normally, and the deeply study on the biological function of these proteins will help us understand maize seed dormancy more clearly.